Hello I have been away from editing for a year or so and just about to step back into some stuff with FCP 7 and considering upgrading but I'm sure as you are well aware there has been a major shift.

I have only heard bad reports about FCP X from many editors and producers (all of whose work I am respectful) who are deeply disappointed. One thing I heard that blew me away is the there is no longer export audio files.

Anyway I am asking for any feedback from you because FCPUGLA has been an excellent resource for me.

I would like to know if FCP X is as dire as it is deemed to be?
If so, Why would Apple make such a move?
Is there hope things may revert back?

Thank you
Michael

In my own humble opinion, FCP X is certainly not ready for professional work. Not on any of the projects that I have worked on in the last 2 years. And there are quite a few projects that I have worked on where FCP X would be fundamentally a bad tool- eg. Editing with a locked matte layer, multicam with split audio tracks and timecode discrepancies, even a simple job like versioning promos, etc... I dont know about most users, but on my end, jobs like that come in quite frequently, and I don't see FCP X being able to perform on those jobs.

That said, there are benefits to using FCP X- the background transcoding is quite useful, and the software is snappy when working with DSLR footage on a zippy enough machine. So if you intend to be an end to end one man post facility and you have no resources to send the project to anyone for finishing and audio mixing, and are up to speed on FCP X, FCP X is a good choice for you.



www.strypesinpost.com

The best way to find out if it's for you is to download the trial and test it for yourself, I think. Many of us have tried it and found it not workable for our sectors, but some people really like it.

You can export audio stems. There is no chance Apple will revert back to a 7 type application.

All the best,

Tom

thanks for that insight strypes

what software would you recommend moving to?

Thanks Tom..Have you seen a drop in FCP users?
Has this site been affected?
Any explanation as to why Apple would abandon FCP as it was?

Final Cut Pro 7 was 32-bit and used QuickTime extensively. There is no 64-bit version of QuickTime so the app needed to be completely rewritten from scratch. Along the way, Apple decided to rethink the idea of a non-linear editor using things it had learned from its experiments with iMovie.

As I said in a previous thread on this subject, two things need to happen for FCPX to be used professionally:

1) It needs to have essential features like multicam and proper broadcast monitoring.

2) Editors need to be able to trust that Apple is looking out for the needs of the professional and won't just pull the rug from under us again.

I am expecting #1 to happen sooner or later. #2 I'm not so sure about.

My software:
Pro Maintenance Tools - Tools to keep Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro running smoothly and fix problems when they arise
Pro Media Tools - Edit QuickTime chapters and metadata, detect gamma shifts, edit markers, watch renders and more
More tools...

Tom Wolsky Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You can export audio stems.

But not OMF, which is what Audio Houses want when we send them stuff to be mixed. They do not want stems.

Apple has changed it's philosophy about what they want an NLE to be, and how it is to function. The new NLE does not work the way FCP 7 did, in the collaborative environment that is the Hollywood workflow. Apple no longer cares about the 2% of it's user base that is broadcast TV/Feature film. They are concentrating on the web/DVD/event people...who are the core users.

The fact that they changed everything about editing and how editing works bothers me the most. Terminology, basic editing functions...they "fixed" something that didn't need fixing.

But, Apple will make money on this, as there are plenty of iMovie editors looking to move up in the world, plenty of DSLR shooters waiting to put their montages up on Vimeo. As for broadcast...time to look at Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro. If you are in LA, Avid would be the one to learn. Althought FCP 7 will be around and see heavy use for a few more years yet. It works...and as long as it does, I and others will use it.


www.shanerosseditor.com

Listen to THE EDIT BAY Podcast on iTunes
[itunes.apple.com]

"One thing I heard that blew me away is the there is no longer export audio files."

That's what the OP said. That's what I responded to.

All the best,

Tom

>But, Apple will make money on this

On my App Store Highest Grossing charts, FCP X is at number 7, while Logic Pro is at number 2. Lesson learnt here is Apple needs to now focus on making more Logic Pros.



www.strypesinpost.com

Like films, new releases usually have strong numbers. In the US FCP is at 2 and Logic at 4, with Pages between them.

The first non-Apple app is at 9: Pixelmator.

All the best,

Tom

Tom wrote-
There is no chance Apple will revert back to a 7 type application.

That may be, but clearly Apple needs to once again rethink FCPX with WORKING ELEMENTS of a previous edition-- they threw the baby out with the bathwater.

For instance, the magnetic timeline is a great editing playground, but at the end of playing I want to see all the clips magically cascade into a classic track arrangement and if I choose, to fine tune there and use all the timeline functions there with which we're familiar. This is related to "collapsing" a multicam cut, but the opposite.

This will increase the possibility that pro's will adopt the tool for high-profile work the way Walter showed its use on studio features, always a great sell point.

If it had this added architecture I could put up with metadata tagging organizing up front. But I want the ability to name all my windows the way I'm used to, so Event Library becomes PROJECT window and Project Browser becomes TIMELINE, etc.

Apple, reinvent your own wheel, not mine!

- Loren

Today's FCP 7 keytip:
Summon your Video Scopes with Option - 9 !

Your Final Cut Studio KeyGuide? Power Pack
with FCP7 KeyGuide --
now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com

Shane wrote:

Tom Wolsky Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You can export audio stems.

But not OMF, which is what Audio Houses want when we send them stuff to be mixed. They do not want stems.
--------------------------------------------

there is a FREE 3rd party app from Automatic Duck that will export OMFs from FCPX. (I haven't used it)


Evan Schectman (sp?) a post facility owner and FCPX beta tester has said he will move his facility over to FCPX on it's next release.

i think it will get a bit more pro in the not-too distant future.


nick

That tool is free because, like FCP 7, it's also EOL'ed.

Evan's announcement is interesting. It would be interesting to list out the type of jobs where using FCP X presents a significant advantage.



www.strypesinpost.com

The tool has nothing to do with FCP7. The tool is exclusively for FCPX. It's EOL because Wes Plate has gone to work for Adobe.

All the best,

Tom

Not saying that it is linked to FCP 7, just that both are EOL'd. I wonder if it works with audio stems.



www.strypesinpost.com

while that tool is EOL,
its a tool that adds "Pro" functionality to FCPX.

maybe future versions of FCPX will have that functionality, but right now it's a very useful tool.


nick

It wasn't that long ago you couldn't edit high def on FCP so I think everyone needs to get a bit of patience with FCPX the colour grading plugins 3rd party people are producing are great and cheap.
I paid £1000 for FCP a few years back FCPX opens things up to a lot of creative young people as it's so cheap.
In London most editors just don't like change, they love their workflow thats been around for years and don't want to change, I was talking to a lighting hire guy the other day who supply sparks as well, he said every other job is shot on a DSLR things are changing.

derek hillier Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It wasn't that long ago you couldn't edit high def
> on FCP so I think everyone needs to get a bit of
> patience with FCPX the colour grading plugins 3rd
> party people are producing are great and cheap.
> I paid £1000 for FCP a few years back FCPX opens
> things up to a lot of creative young people as
> it's so cheap.
> In London most editors just don't like change,
> they love their workflow thats been around for
> years and don't want to change, I was talking to a
> lighting hire guy the other day who supply sparks
> as well, he said every other job is shot on a DSLR
> things are changing.


but it's still a damn shame they hacked the arms, legs and head off over 10 years of FCP development, a fine tool it was . .

alas . . all this talk of 'give it time' is akin to presenting humanity as an ape, all over again, barely able to grunt or crawl when it was sprinting while reciting Shakespeare similtaniously, several months previous.

True but I think it will soon get back to what it was but 64bit
Pluraleyes for FCPX beta is working great and I think there is a lot of development happening behind the scenes.

Why does it need pluraleyes? I thought that was an auto feature in FCPX.

Pluraleyes works better have a look at the demo video multi cams and sound tracks etc

What I have found is that Pluraleyes works better under certain conditions, and when it doesn't, weird stuff has happened. There seems to be better performance when you run an interview through Pluraleyes. Better and faster if the audio is exactly the same (eg. wireless receiver to the DSLR camera). But when you're dealing with multicam with split micing (even if one track is usually identical), weird stuff sometimes happens. And I've seen clips disappear, or sometimes it syncs up the wrong audio file (which would confuse the software even more). Not to say it's not useful. It's a miracle worker when it works, just that there are times it doesn't, and you're better off syncing those by hand.

Haven't tried FCP X's audio analysis much. Although when I first tried FCP X, it removed my audio when I told it to remove silent tracks.



www.strypesinpost.com

FCPX is garbage for my work, IMHO. I am on FCP7 until it disappears and then I am on to Premiere Pro (which I have fully updated in the CS5.5 Production Premium package - and Adobe CARES about their Pro Population) and I just ordered Avid MC6 to cover my all my freelance bases.

If I get a call to edit FCPX, I will gladly turn it down. Bu-bye FCP...I knew ye well.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Here here!

Harry.

need fcp 7 for a job anybody selling ???
how does fcp7 work with Lion?
also need to buy new mac tower, and advice? Wait, buy now? what do I need for avid 6 and fcp 7?
happy holidays!
evarita

For Avid 6 and FCP, the official recommendation is to install onto a separate boot disk. I have MC5.5 and FCP 7 on the same boot drive (mine is a laptop) with little issues, but I don't have a Mojo installed.



www.strypesinpost.com

Can someone tell me why you can't just continue to use FCP 7? Why even bother with FCP X? Just because apple doesn't support something anymore, why can't we just support it ourselves?

Because at some point, Snow Leopard won't be available anymore and Mac OS will stop supporting FCP. Without an operating system, you can't run software.

You can still run an older computer, often for years, but you have to make sure you stop doing software and driver updates at some point, or you'll modify the computer irrevocably and possibly affect your ability to run older software. QuickTime updates are especially deadly to running older FCP systems.


www.derekmok.com